Feminist Theatre became a prominent movement in the early part of 1970's during the second wave of the feminist movement. Nearly 120 years after the Seneca Falls Convention first jump-started the feminist movement, and 50 years after the ratification of the 19th amendment securing women the right to vote, the grassroots movement that started in the 60's in response to the success of the Civil Rights movement became what was known as the contemporary U.S. women's movement. The movement was in part, due to the remaining conservative view on gender politics popularly held by the racially and economically liberated Left. Once white middle-class women with a past of radical politics got a hold of the movement, the once smaller grassroots movement grew into the New Left and began to incorporate new organizations and strains such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) and various other politically active and organized impact programs.
Out of the movement, new strains such as radical feminism began to become popular amongst steadfast supporters of the movement. Radical feminists viewed "women's oppression as systematic and began to analyze how patriarchal domination relegated women to the private sphere and alienated them from the power men wielded in public life" (Wilmeth and Miller, 178). From this branch of radical feminism came the first wave of feminist theatre and a new movement that would soon be celebrated in popular women's culture. Various theatre groups began to spring up all over the country that would use the performing arts to advocate for the validation of women's personal rights such as It's Alright to Be a Woman Theatre, the Omaha Magic Theatre, the Women's Experimental Theatre, and an innumerable amount of other feminist theatre troupes.
However, in the 1980's, the popularity and success of radical feminist theatre that strived in the 70's began to dwindle, as liberal feminism began to gain ground despite the exclusion of intersectionality and the rights of women of colour, specifically urban black women. The liberal feminist movement instead focused on the political rights and economic equality of white middle-class women which gained a significant following in popular culture during the 80's. Despite the declining amount of radical feminist theatre troupes, their work in trail blazing the path for women in the theatre was seen in the 80's and decades to follow as women began to be recognized with major awards in the theatre community including the Pulitzer Prize and mainstream success of women playwrights such as Beth Henley, Marsha Norman, Wendy Wasserstein, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Wagner.
In understanding the history and application of feminist theatre, Trifles can most definitely be defined as a feminist work. Written in 1916, nearly 60 years before the beginning of what came to be popularly known as the hay-day of feminist theatre, Trifles does in fact deal with the same sort of radical feminist that so often defined the plays of the era. Susan Glaspell explores the female identity and the female experience in a visionary way for her time. Glaspell's work was radical for a period when the majority of the American population believed that women were nearly second-rate citizens and that it was their job to be subservient to the wants, needs, and demands of men. The idea that two women, one which was married to the Sheriff, would withhold information that would lead to the conviction of another woman for the murder of her husband, was unheard of. In fact, at the time of the play's publication, it was met with harsh and unsatisfactory reviews due to its "violent" themes.
The play deals with the concept of socially constructed gender roles as the men simply ignore the "trifles" that the women seem to take very clear note of. The men exert their superiority by mocking the women for their actions and attention to detail. Trifles goes so far as to illustrate the men as incompetent and unable to truly see through to the real motive of the crime through their ignorance, while the women are made to be superior, finding the motive and withholding the information from the men in an attempt to save their friend. Due to the radical concepts outlined in the play, it is not a stretch to say that Trifles is in fact a feminist play, and that despite being written over half a century before what would become to be known as the contemporary U.S. women's movement, it is the perfect example of a radical piece of feminist theatre.
Feminist Theatre became a prominent movement in the early part of 1970's during the second wave of the feminist movement. Nearly 120 years after the Seneca Falls Convention first jump-started the feminist movement, and 50 years after the ratification of the 19th amendment securing women the right to vote, the grassroots movement that started in the 60's in response to the success of the Civil Rights movement became what was known as the contemporary U.S. women's movement. The movement was in part, due to the remaining conservative view on gender politics popularly held by the racially and economically liberated Left. Once white middle-class women with a past of radical politics got a hold of the movement, the once smaller grassroots movement grew into the New Left and began to incorporate new organizations and strains such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) and various other politically active and organized impact programs.
Out of the movement, new strains such as radical feminism began to become popular amongst steadfast supporters of the movement. Radical feminists viewed "women's oppression as systematic and began to analyze how patriarchal domination relegated women to the private sphere and alienated them from the power men wielded in public life" (Wilmeth and Miller, 178). From this branch of radical feminism came the first wave of feminist theatre and a new movement that would soon be celebrated in popular women's culture. Various theatre groups began to spring up all over the country that would use the performing arts to advocate for the validation of women's personal rights such as It's Alright to Be a Woman Theatre, the Omaha Magic Theatre, the Women's Experimental Theatre, and an innumerable amount of other feminist theatre troupes.
However, in the 1980's, the popularity and success of radical feminist theatre that strived in the 70's began to dwindle, as liberal feminism began to gain ground despite the exclusion of intersectionality and the rights of women of colour, specifically urban black women. The liberal feminist movement instead focused on the political rights and economic equality of white middle-class women which gained a significant following in popular culture during the 80's. Despite the declining amount of radical feminist theatre troupes, their work in trail blazing the path for women in the theatre was seen in the 80's and decades to follow as women began to be recognized with major awards in the theatre community including the Pulitzer Prize and mainstream success of women playwrights such as Beth Henley, Marsha Norman, Wendy Wasserstein, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Wagner.
In understanding the history and application of feminist theatre, Trifles can most definitely be defined as a feminist work. Written in 1916, nearly 60 years before the beginning of what came to be popularly known as the hay-day of feminist theatre, Trifles does in fact deal with the same sort of radical feminist that so often defined the plays of the era. Susan Glaspell explores the female identity and the female experience in a visionary way for her time. Glaspell's work was radical for a period when the majority of the American population believed that women were nearly second-rate citizens and that it was their job to be subservient to the wants, needs, and demands of men. The idea that two women, one which was married to the Sheriff, would withhold information that would lead to the conviction of another woman for the murder of her husband, was unheard of. In fact, at the time of the play's publication, it was met with harsh and unsatisfactory reviews due to its "violent" themes.
The play deals with the concept of socially constructed gender roles as the men simply ignore the "trifles" that the women seem to take very clear note of. The men exert their superiority by mocking the women for their actions and attention to detail. Trifles goes so far as to illustrate the men as incompetent and unable to truly see through to the real motive of the crime through their ignorance, while the women are made to be superior, finding the motive and withholding the information from the men in an attempt to save their friend. Due to the radical concepts outlined in the play, it is not a stretch to say that Trifles is in fact a feminist play, and that despite being written over half a century before what would become to be known as the contemporary U.S. women's movement, it is the perfect example of a radical piece of feminist theatre.